What would fraud-proofing look like?

[nancylebov]

Or to put it another way, if I hear "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", I will scream.

People need a pretty solid idea of how the world works before they can tell what's too good to be true.

So, a tentative anti-fraud course would at least include assertiveness training and a history of classic frauds. However, a lot of it would probably be more like learning some wisdom-- things like how to tell how far your competence extends. Just because you're very good at something doesn't mean you're very good at everything. (I've heard that the most common fraud victim isn't an easily pushed-around old woman, it's a self-made man.) I suppose part of it is learning to be suspicious enough to do careful research if people are trying to scare or flatter you.

And there's the subtlety of having enough self-assertion to not be buffaloed by a fraudster, and enough humility to hear it when your friends and family are correctly suggesting that you're out of your mind. And self-assertion again if your friends and family have fallen for an affinity scam.

Actually, anything that's called fraud-proofing is presumably overstating what it can do, but it's should be possible to improve the odds. And I wish this kind of thing was taught in high school.

Comments

i had a math teacher that sort of did that

[wolfdancer.livejournal.com]

He warned about haveing your insurance roled intothe cost of your car pacage and asorted things (that would make a warante that was 124 end up costing like over 600 or someting like that,) how to look for fdbait and switch, and to not buy a car from a man named smileing Sam that sold cars from a Trailer.
This was wisdom that he dispenced off the books I think.
Sad to say it is rare.
he also gave advice on shoping and buying can goods as part of his math.

[catbirdgirl.livejournal.com]

it would teach people how to consult snopes, the top 10 internet frauds and where to find info about new ones, and how to tell when someone's body language is not congruent with their vocal tones.

[crazysoph.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent idea - alas, I have the suspicion that to do effective "fraud-proofing", you'll quickly cross into the territory of innoculating people against most advertising. Not a bad thing in my book, mind you, but I bet it would start many interests vested in employing manipulative sales techniques squealing like stuck pigs.

Crazy(and remembering when an employer tried to teach her to ask customers questions like, "Do you want A or B?" rather than open questions like "What would you like?"; said employer believing it good marketing to trap a customer in the shop into an immediate "choice" between two products, rather than a product and no product at all, if that was the customer's understanding of their own need)Soph

[(Anonymous)]

I wrote an essay a long time ago on things that I wish were taught in high-school. Recognizing frauds wasn't on the list, but probably should have been. I called it a "Life Skills" course, for lack of a better name.

The trouble with recognizing frauds is that the fraudee needs to know how to *think* - something else that is not taught in the public school system. In my experience, the public schools in America are more concerned with getting their students to pass tests so they keep getting government funding than actually teaching. If someone doesn't know how to think, they're an easy mark for swindlers.

[tashadandelion.livejournal.com]

You and my mom have the same idea, apparently. She regularly pontificates (in a good way) about what her ideal high school courses would be: budgeting, meal planning, raising kids, etc. Life skills are neglected in our state-run education programs, and if our taxes are already being spent on it, why not change the curriculum a little and emphasize things that every single student can benefit from? Take "raising kids", for example. Even people who at that time plan to never have children can benefit from understanding children and their needs. We don't live in a child-free world; exposure will happen. :^D I'd consider it a perspective-broadening class at worst, an invaluable tool for future parents at best. And learning to manage money and plan meals? Building blocks of a life. No getting around it.

Oh well, it's fun to fantasize. :^D

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

Well, back in the Paleolithic Era when I went to high school, they did teach things like meal planning and child care, as well as many other useful things. They were in a class called "Home Economics," which I hear has been generally discontinued due to Political Incorrectness.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

I remember my early-seventies home-ec class as being like "girls cook too-many-cooks-spoil-the-broth-type food for the boys in the 'bachelor survival' class".

[subnumine.livejournal.com]

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=extraordinary+popular+delusions+and+the+madness+of+crowds&sprefix=Extraordinary) Written in 1841, came back into popularity when Bernard Baruch credited it with saving his money in the last Depression (absit omen), now five editions in print, two since the crash (and one on September 1 - love to get a straight answer from their marketing manager).